


Bratja

by TheRegularWriter



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: (I haven't seen it yet but I've read a couple spoilers), (I live for this tag ngl), (i think so??), Alphonse Elric needs a hug, Alphonse Elric-Centric, Amnesia, Angst, Bittersweet, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Canon Divergence, Crying, Edward Elric Keeps Automail, Elricest and Royed shippers get the fuck away!!!!!, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Conqueror of Shamballa, It might not seem that way but it is lmao, No Incest, Not Canon Compliant, Not Really Character Death, POV Alphonse Elric, Promised Day, Protective Edward Elric, Restored Alphonse Elric, There might (will) be plot holes, Touch-Starved, Truth is a little bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 18:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30059778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRegularWriter/pseuds/TheRegularWriter
Summary: When Al gets his body back, he finally accepts that things never go the way he wants.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Bratja

**Author's Note:**

> So I just read one thing or another about Conqueror of Shamballa (the movie that takes place after FMA 2003), and I was interested by this concept...
> 
> Some things to consider:
> 
> 1) Al doesn't sacrifice his soul for Ed's arm - instead, his armored body can no longer bear his soul, as we've seen in the show that it shouldn't be permanent  
> 2) As a result, Ed keeps his automail, but he still sacrifices his alchemy to take Al home
> 
> So yeah, there might - _will_ \- be plot holes here; after all this is just me ruining Brotherhood's happy ending jfdgjfdsgfjdgh
> 
> I'm still new to FMA in general, so I hope this isn't too OOC.
> 
> Enjoy the angst! :)
> 
> Trivia: I wrote this while listening to "Brothers" from the original FMA OST. Yeah, it fucked with my feelings.

Al faces the inevitable.

The armor can no longer bear his soul, so he must return to the Gate and face the Truth for once and for all. Meanwhile, Ed will figure out a way to get Al back home. The younger Elric knows it.

So, Al is back to the white nothing, and sees him. The boy with long, blond hair, malnourished body barely able to stand. Golden eyes empty, without any essence. He looks at the armor with the desperate, craving need to take what’s his.

Yet when Al is making his way to his body, the Truth appears between them with their wicked smile. Of course, it shouldn’t be this easy. Truth always takes something in return. Whatever it might be, Al is ready.

Except their offer is…

He looks down to his metal feet.

“It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? To live everything again, just like before?” Truth inquires.

Al clenches his fists. “Y-Yes, but…”

 _This isn’t it_ , he wants to say, _this isn’t…_

“You two still haven’t learned,” Truth laughs. “You think that only persevering and teaching everyone else will get you everything you want. But that’s not how it works. There are consequences, there are _sacrifices_. Life is made of sacrifices, for balance to exist.”

Al almost wants to protest, because equivalent exchange isn’t entirely correct. There are horrible and unfair things in the world, like the genocide of Ishval. Not every death or anguish is worth anything.

But in this case, Al _did_ do something wrong – he messed with something he shouldn’t have. He felt the need to be more powerful than nature, because of the love for his mother. And not only did he lose his body, but his brother is forever haunted as well.

No matter how much Al wants things to return, he knows it will never be the same. In this case, it really won’t, and he can’t imagine how awful it will be if he accepts the sacrifice.

“There is no time,” Truth reminds him, “you must decide. Your body can’t live much longer without its soul. Either you accept it or perish forever.”

Al looks at the boy behind the wicked Truth. How weak he seems. He only wants to live and feel again. He can’t feel without his soul, and the armor won’t live for long either. He doesn’t have time.

Al can’t feel pain, but he does feel sick about the thought of the exchange.

Regardless, as he’s convinced by the golden eyes nearly deprived of life, Al nods.

“Okay. I accept it.”

Truth’s smile widens, their teeth thick. Al shakes, as he feels the armor dusting away to the whiteness that encircle around them.

If he could cry right now, he would.

_I’m sorry, Ed._

* * *

As if waking from an awful deep sleep, Alphonse wakes up to find… nothing ahead.

No, everything is white. And for whatever reason, he has little to no energy to stand up. Al trembles violently, but not because he’s cold. He’s… _weak_.

When he looks up, there are the tallest and darkest doors he’s ever seen. Symbols are drawn in it, filling the door with knowledge Al doesn’t actually understand.

Where is he? Why isn’t he home? And why—

Why is he so **thin**?

And to make things even more terrifying to him, he hears steps coming from behind. Al gasps, unable to protect himself. It’s… another boy who tentatively approaches him; hair and eyes blond just like his, except he’s not pale.

“Al? Al, hey,” the stranger says softly, standing on his knees to meet Al’s eyes. “It’s me,” he whispers.

The starved boy realizes, only one person speaks to him this way. The same look of fondness and concern that took care of him from the very beginning.

“… Brother?”

Ed looks so… different. So much older; he’s not small anymore. His hair is braided, his clothes are ripped, injuries all over his body. And to add to it all…

“B-Brother, what”— Al hiccups —“what happened to your arm? A-And your leg?”

Ed’s confused smile fades completely into shock. Al looks again at his own unkept hands; is everything connected? As to why they’re here? As to why Ed lost his arm and his leg, and why Al’s body has been neglected?

“… Al,” Ed calls him, serious, “what’s the last thing you can remember?”

The younger Elric doesn’t look up, as he ponders in his brother’s question. He certainly can’t recall what brought either of them here.

“I… w-we were going to…” Al gulps, eyes widening in realization. “We were going to transmute mom.”

Ed’s eyes are impossibly horrified.

Oh, no.

Only this could explain…

Despite Al’s obvious dehydration and starvation, his eyes fill with tears.

“It- It didn’t work?” He asks innocently. At Ed’s stunned silence, Al cries, “I-It should’ve worked! We did everything right, didn’t we?”

Human transmutation was prohibited, but they could’ve done it. They worked so hard, they studied the theory, they found a teacher, they understood _everything_ to alchemy. This shouldn’t have happened. His brother lost two of his limbs. And Al… he doesn’t know. He can’t remember.

The tears fall and disappear in the white under him. Somehow, Al and Ed are sitting in the nothing. They lost everything.

“N-No, this shouldn’t- I d-don’t understand! W-We should’ve brought her back, Ed! Why didn’t we?” Al sobs. “Why…”

He cries nonstop, as if he hasn’t cried in **years**. That’s how much time has passed, isn’t it? And for the life of him, Al can’t recall anything. This is his punishment, right?

Al finds the metal replacing his brother’s limbs and he sobs harder. Ed paid for it, too.

“I-I’m sorry, brother…” Al says, “it’s- it’s all my fault, isn’t it? I must’ve done something wrong. I-It should’ve worked, Ed… I’m sorry… I’m sorry!” He cries out.

Al seeks his own body and hides in it. He looks awful – he is awful. How could he do this to his big brother, who’s suffered so much for mom and for him?

Even so, even with everything against him, Al is pulled hard in someone’s arms – and it’s such an odd sensation. Again, years must have passed, and it must be the first time someone ever _touches_ him.

It’s Ed, his big brother. His brother, who’s badly wounded, is holding onto Al for dear life. Ed shakes as much as Al, and the latter feels the tears wetting his bony shoulder.

“A-Alphonse…” Ed sobs quietly, “it could never be your fault. I’m the one who insisted, I’m…”

“But you did everything you could, brother, and I only ruined it…”

“No, Al. You couldn’t”— Ed swallows —“ _we_ couldn’t have known. We thought we’d be better, and we both suffered for it.”

Al shakes his head, but he doesn’t protest. Because Ed is right. They thought they could do it. They thought they could play with nature.

But in the end, you can’t return one taken by the earth.

“W… What now, brother?” Al asks desperately. “What should we do? I-I can’t remember anything, a-and you lost your limbs…”

Ed doesn’t answer, as if considering his question. Eventually, his big brother takes a deep, painful breath.

“I don’t know,” Ed replies honestly. “B-But I’ve got you back, Al. I’ve _finally_ got you.” His voice cracks, and Ed holds Al closer, tenderly running his fingers through the long, blond hair that hides Al’s back. “And I promise you, whatever it takes, I’ll take care of you. I’m _never_ letting you go again.”

Al hurts. In both senses.

He hurts for his brother. Ed must have been in a never-ending quest to get Al back, to his own expense. They couldn’t see their mother’s smile again. They will never see her again.

But he also hurts in the good way, because Al _needs_ to be held. He needs his brother here, to hold him and support him. Al needs it, because it’s the only way he can believe that maybe, maybe things might get better, no matter how lost he is.

So, Al finally raises his weak arms to wrap them around Ed.

 _Thank you_ and _I’m sorry_ is all he wants to tell him.

Ed hears them and rubs his back in response. _It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here._

Al sighs in relief for the first time in years.


End file.
